The Lion Man

I came across this on DVD and had long been a fan of Jon Hall from my youth. "Lion Man" comes from a story by E.R. Borroughs of Tarzan fame, and has many of the same plot lines, i.e., an English boy, the son of an industrialist is orphaned by desert bandits and raised by a desert mystic who pals with lions. The boy is initially rescued by a Englishwoman who has been enslaved by the devilish bandit and earns a reputation as a fierce fighter protecting travelers from the bandits. There is a beautiful desert Princess whom he rescues and eventually he gains revenge on the wrongdoers.

This film is typical of the escapist romances filmed during the latter years of the great depression and is romantic to the max. The hero, "El Lion," comes riding in, on a white horse, fights the bad guys hand to hand-- no sword play, mind you-- and saves the day. Purist may cringe at the sight of Bactrian camels and clumsy attempts to portray Arab life but when viewed in the context of when and for whom this film was made, it has a great charm. See it. It's worth it.